MJW – Freelance Writer, Blogger, Interviewer

Haiku – hwyl

In Wales, we have something called ‘hwyl‘. It doesn’t have a direct English translation, but it is an emotion, a feeling, and it means pride, fun and most importantly, passion.

Hwyl is one of those great words that even non-Welsh speakers (like me) will use quite often when trying to describe something. ‘Cwtch’ and ‘Hiraeth’ are two other good examples of words that have found their place in every day Wenglish.

Anyway, anyone will know that a stereotypical Welsh man is pretty passionate about sports, and I’m happy to live up to that stereotype. I wrote this little haiku when watching Wales about to play New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals.

Fires roar around the Principality Stadium as the Welsh team walks out for any rugby international, the crowd cheers are so loud, and you cannot help but get emotional. It’s all about the hwyl you see.